Why Him?
by A Lovestruck A2
Summary: As a person, Lightning couldn't stand him. He was an idiot, too optimistic, and marrying her little sister. So why, for Etro's sake, did she feel like this towards him? Why him? Why Snow Villiers?


_**A/N: Well, here's my first Final Fantasy XIII work. I've always loved the ship of Snow/Lightning (sue me). So, when the opportunity arose to write a one-shot for these two, I took it XD**_

 **Why Him?**

 _Summary: As a person, Lightning couldn't stand him. He was an idiot, too optimistic, and marrying her little sister. So why, for Etro's sake, did she feel like this towards him? Why him? Why Snow Villiers?_

* * *

Lightning knew she couldn't stand Snow. That was already a fact. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

He irritated the living hell out of her.

The party was somewhere on the Archylte Steppes on the surface of Pulse, taking the time to explore the vast scenery around them and battle some of the beasts that called the great plains their home.

A behemoth king patrolled its territory only about fifty meters away, and Lightning kept one hand on her gunblade in case the beast decided they were its new prey. They were surrounded by tall cliffs that were impossible to climb, and they would be forced to fight it.

"Well, that ugly thing is an eyesore, wouldn't you say, sis?" Snow grinned at her in his usual way, and the pinkette immediately pulled a sour expression and turned her back to him.

She hated the way he called her 'sis'. He may have been engaged to Serah, but that didn't give him the right to act like he was her brother when the damned fool could barely even think for himself. He was barely old enough to drink, let alone fuck, and he still acted like a damn child at times.

He was annoying, plain and simple.

So why did she constantly feel this pull towards him?

Lightning wouldn't deny that Snow was an attractive man. His stumble had a certain appeal to her, as did his soft blond hair that fell into his eyes. His massive frame came in handy; being the team's tank, he could survive just about anything that was thrown at him, regardless of the monster dishing out the punishment.

His black shirt failed to conceal the powerful muscles he sported underneath the thin fabric, and more than once Lightning had been forced to rip her icy gaze away from it lest he spot her admiring him and decided to tease her about it.

' _You don't like him,'_ she thought angrily, kicking a stray rock through the grass. _'He irritates you and is engaged to your damn sister. You. Don't. Like. Him.'_

' _Or do you, Claire? He is quite the attractive male specimen.'_

' _Piss off.'_

"Hey, are you alright?" Snow asked in concern. He hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder, the tight leather feeling so comforting in the worst away against her exposed skin.

Lightning repressed a shiver of excitement, and the pinkette nodded. "I'm fine, Snow. Just…worried about Serah." _'Worried about making her upset, more like.'_

"You sure?" Snow pressed on, and Lightning internally groaned in frustration; the damn man was never one for taking a hint.

"Yes, Snow," she replied, trying her best to control her frustration; the temptation to grab him by the head and kiss him was driving her mad. _'I could do it. His lips are so tantalizingly close. Dammit, why you?'_

"Light…"

"I said I'm fine, dammit."

"Bullshit." Lightning raised an eyebrow in surprise. She had never actually heard Snow swear before, and the blond folded his powerful arms across his broad chest. "I know you enough to tell when you're lying. Something's bothering you, and I'm not going to leave you alone until you stop being so stubborn and tell me what it is."

Lightning sucked her teeth and looked away, and she was glad she did. The behemoth king had spotted them and was galloping towards them with an eager snarl, and she reached for her gunblade. "Is now really the time!?"

Snow grinned and cracked his neck, but not before giving her a concerned look. "Don't think you're going to get away once we kick this ugly brute's ass. You're still telling me what's wrong."

"Pain in the ass."

"Pot calling the kettle black much?"

"Oi! What the hell do you two think you're doing, getting the party started without me!?" Fang ran over to join them, grinning ear to ear as she twirled her bladed lance. The Pulse native chuckled as the behemoth king approached, and she looked at the two. "Snow, hit it with Froststrike! I'll get its attention!"

"And do I just sit here twiddling my thumbs?" Lightning asked sarcastically, throwing a blast of fiery magic into the monster's face.

The beast roared, taking a powerful swipe at Snow. The blond crossed his arms, using his Steelguard ability to withstand the blow with a grimace. His hand became incased in ice, and he landed a powerful uppercut to the behemoth's jaw. It staggered from the force of the blow, and Lightning and Fang came across with quick slashes on its powerful body.

However, behemoths were known for their remarkable endurance as well as their incredible strength; their attacks did little to its powerful hide, and it took another swipe at them. Both women were forced to fall back, and Snow landed gracefully next to them. "Alright, that didn't work. If anything, we made it angrier. Yay team."

For once, Snow's attempt at sarcasm didn't annoy Lightning; the ex soldier let out a quiet laugh, flicking the blade of her gunblade back to fire a bullet directly into the monster's face.

Fang chuckled as the behemoth roared in frustration, giving the two of them a sly smirk. "Maybe you should, oh, I don't know—"

"I swear to Etro, if you say, 'hit it really hard', I'm going to throw you into a river," Lightning threatened. Snow laughed at that.

"Well…we could hit it really hard…together?" Fang hastily added, noticing the slightly murderous intent in the pinkette's blue eyes.

"Fine. Let's just get it over with." Lightning rolled her eyes and sighed. She focused her l'Cie powers into a series of Ruin spells, the non-elemental attacks hitting the behemoth. It roared in pain, and it went to stand up on its hind legs when Snow leapt up and caught it in the jaw with a powerful left hook.

The force of the blow sent the beast onto its back, exposing the softer hide of its underbelly, and Fang drove her bladed lance deep into its gut.

She twisted, and the dark blue monster screamed in pain. Its tail thrashed in a panic, its hooked claws tearing up clumps of grass as it bled out from its wounds.

Fang removed her weapon and shook the blood off of it with a smirk, looking back at the pinkette. "See? I told you my strategy would work."

Lightning could only sigh in exasperation.

If it wasn't Snow's mere presence driving her nuts with conflicted emotions, it was Fang's antics. "Goddammit, woman. You give me way too many headaches nowadays."

Fang only let out a mad cackle and ducked from the rock Lightning threw at her in response.

* * *

The party was most of the way through the Steppe when Lightning finally decided to call it a night. "We'll make camp here. Hope and Vanille, you're on water duty tonight."

"Aww." Vanille's lip stuck out, and her eyes quivered. "Do I have to?"

"Yes," Lightning replied dryly. "We all have to pull our own weight; this isn't a fantasy cruise. We're in hostile territory surrounded by many creatures that would love to make us their midnight snack."

"You have a way with words that really make a girl depressed," Fang muttered. "I'll go to keep an eye on the kids; goodness knows what Vanille will try and do to that poor boy."

The Pulsian went after the two youngsters on their way to the nearest river, and Lightning sighed. _'That woman has a way of driving me up the damned wall. Pain in the ass.'_

She stared after them as they left, and she nearly jumped out of her skin when Snow's hand touched her again. The blond brute was so damned handsome in the moonlight, and his dark blue eyes shone.

"By Etro, Snow, you nearly gave me a damned heart attack," she murmured. "Don't do that again."

"Sorry, Light," he apologized, letting out an awkward grin. Dammit, that boyish charm of his was infectious. "I just wanted to talk about earlier."

Lightning sighed and ripped her gaze away from him. "You wouldn't understand…"

"Try me. I'm a good listener."

"Dammit Snow, you don't get it."

"Get what?"

"This! Are you really this blind!?" She snapped, her frustration getting the better of her. She wanted to grab him by the hair and yell it into his face for him to understand. Her hands balled into tight fists, and the pinkette turned her back on him.

"Dammit Snow…why did it have to be you?"

"What? What did I do?"

Lightning turned around to face him, her face contorted into a snarl of frustration. "You're a pain in the ass, brash, and kind of an idiot."

"No argument here." Snow grinned. "But flattery won't get you anywhere."

"Dammit Snow!" She threw her arms in the air, an uncharacteristic gesture for the former soldier. "How much clearer do I have to be!? I fucking _like_ you, in a way that makes me insane!"

Her words made Snow's eyes widen, and he looked down at the ground quietly. Lightning walked over to him and leaned her head into his broad chest, feeling the hard muscle underneath his shirt. "It hurts, Snow. I'm drawn to you, and yet I know you're in love with my sister. You already chose her."

"Light…" Snow looked torn, and his shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry. I didn't…"

"Don't be." Lightning brushed him off, equally as torn on the inside. Fibers of her being were screaming at her, demanding she push him against a tree and kiss him senseless. But as much as her heart ached for it, her mind wouldn't let her.

She couldn't betray her baby sister. Even if she longed for the blond as much as Serah did, perhaps even more.

She couldn't be with him.

The pinkette removed herself from him and walked away, leaving Snow wordlessly mouthing behind. She didn't understand why it had to be Snow that she felt this way towards. But she knew it was something that couldn't happen.

She'd have to put those feelings to the side, no matter how maddening they may be, and wish Snow and Serah would be happy together.

 _ **A/N: Short and bitter. Just the way my edgy ass loves it. Honestly, I think this went through about five or six different drafts before I finally settled on this one. Did I want it to be smutty? Oh yeah. I ship this shit harder than the Titanic.**_

 _ **But, I decided to go for a non smut. Variety is the spice of life after all XD. Thanks for reading!**_

 _ **-DPLxBeAsTxSnIpE**_

 _ **C. Strife #5371**_


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